Classic -- but uninspired. What if you could be something really cool for $30 or less?

I challenged five people, myself included, to put together a cheap do-it-yourself costume. This is bargain territory considering the retail group predicts the average person will spend $79.82 on decorations, costumes and candy.

If you haven't planned your costume or you're strapped for cash, we've got you covered.

Leilan McNally

Costume: Office gladiator.

McNally -- known on social media as the Big Kahuna -- is no stranger to letting his creativity show. He got his costume idea from working in offices and wanted to poke fun at the people who hoard the "free" supplies.

"Nobody admits to it. Here's this guy who, wow he took a lot of stuff," he said. "What they do with all the stuff they take? Now we know."

Elements: Sticky notes, tape and printer paper.

Cost: Zero. All his pieces were found at home.

Patrick Weigand

Costume: Kermit the Frog.

Once I heard Weigand was a member of Indy Fringe and a puppeteer, I knew he would come up with something cool. His costume and impression of Mr. Frog were right on the money. "I'm a long-time Kermit fan," he said.

Cost: $22.44 (The $9.99 trench was the biggest expense.) "The biggest part of the challenge to me was the time," Weigand said.

Ben Risinger

Costume: Mario.

When I spoke to Risinger a week before the photo shoot, he and his girlfriend were still brainstorming his costume. Taking notice of the mustache he had been growing since November, he had a light-bulb moment.

"I looked up famous mustaches in costumes and we decided Mario was more fun," he said.

Michelle Pemberton

Pemberton, an Indianapolis Star photographer, is the queen of over-the-top costumes. She once bought a roll of black vinyl at a fabric store and sewed her own Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman costume without a pattern. Conjuring up Tippi Hedron from "The Birds," she once found a light blue mid-century women's suit and hat, attached fake black "attack" birds to them, and added fake bloody scratches to her skin.

But, she's not accustomed to working with such a small budget. A member of the Naptown Roller Girls, she creates her own looks for the bouts. (Recently, she went through a Harajuku girl phase.)

"Last year for the Naptown Roller Girls I had sponsors and had a budget of $3,000," she said. "So to do something on the cheap was pretty challenging."

Elements: 10 yards of batting ($20), rose ($4.99) and album ($5).

Cost: $30, and about six hours of free-form sewing.

Whitney Smith (Indy's FruGal)

Costume: Barbie styling head.

The last time I remember dressing for Halloween, I was probably 12 years old. I went as a black cat.

While I am not a Halloween celebrator, I never backed down from a challenge -- especially a money-saving one.

I took a gander around Pinterest and found a throwback to my youth. If you were a little girl who loved playing beauty shop, you remember the Barbie styling head. I joked that I'm the knock-off brand of the toy because there was always something a little unusual about those. Hence my seriously blonde wig.